Tuesday, 25 July 2017

My ISP - yes Internet

Service Provider and I have been arguing. I do not like arguing but it was essential.
I still have - just - a contract of sorts with them.  It was a new contract just a few months back but they have not kept to the terms and conditions of it...no, I am sorry but they have not.
They contracted to provide me with a service. It was supposed to be a service under the "NBN" - the National Broadband Network. That service was supposed to be "better" and "faster" than the old service. It was also going to cost more. I was also told that "everyone will need to go over to the new NBN".
Fine. Other people had been told the same thing. The NBN had been "rolled out" along the street. My view was, "if there are going to be problems then let's sort them out now and not when everyone else is trying to sort out their problems". After all, I work from home. I need the service.
There were major problems with the switching over. I had to call in some help. I am an elderly cat. I do not understand technology, particularly the technology run by those computer geeks. 
I thought we had it sorted. Things kept "dropping out". The downloads  barely limped along. I complained. Nothing was done. I sent not one but two registered letters to the management because other requests were ignored.
I ended up putting up a negative message on social media - and that did get a result of sorts. Since then there have been emails back and forth with the other end desperately trying not to do anything. They talk about "tests" and "adjustments" and "multiple reasons why" and, once, sent me a long list of instructions about what I would need to do...instructions I couldn't even begin to understand. Oh, they would "talk" me through it. Sorry, but I can't hold the phone for long periods of time, use the mouse and type something in. I don't have that many paws and they are clumsier than most human paws!
Irritated beyond measure at the constant interruptions to my work and the wild assumptions being made about technical expertise I began to get stroppy. I am still stroppy. We have a contract - just - it says they will provide a service and that service is supposed to be better than the old service. It isn't. It's a breach of contract.  It is also costing me twice as much.
Oh they are full of excuses. Now they say they have made a "proactive " move to try and ditch the contract. I can, they tell me, find a new ISP... No, they can provide me with the service. I don't have time for this sort of shenanigans. 
I also know that I am not the only person experiencing these sort of problems. The real problem is that they are not buying enough bandwidth or whatever it is from the core provider. That is about profit and not service. 
What will today bring - or not bring?

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